The present invention broadly relates to an eye shield or eyepiece for a viewing device having at least one ocular and, more specifically, pertains to a new and improved construction of an eye shield or eyepiece for a day and night vision sighting device for aiming a weapon. Such eye shield or eyepiece can be mounted on the housing of a viewing device and has a headrest or support body associated with the ocular.
An eye shield device is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,852,975, granted Sept. 23, 1958, which comprises a headrest provided with a forehead rest portion and two lateral arm portions. The headrest of elastomeric plastic substantially surrounds two oculars of an optical system and is adaptable within a limited range to the form of the head of an observer due to its own or inherent flexibility.
A goggle-like design of night vision device is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,781,560, granted Dec. 25, 1973, which comprises two light sources mounted in mutually spaced relationship on one side of a housing and having associated lens systems and two screen elements formed on the other side of the housing. The device is fixed to the head of a user by means of straps, and the face or side of the elastomeric plastic screen element confronting or adjacent to the head is adjustable within a limited range to the head form.
It is also known from the optical observation device of Swiss Pat. No. 496,246, granted Sept. 15, 1970, to provide a goggle-like eye shield device having forehead and chin rests mounted on it for determining the position of the head of an observer and the direction of view of an observer's eye in relation to the sight axis.
When designing such viewing or observation devices, especially when designing sighting devices for aiming a weapon, the adaptability of the headrest to the shape of the head of different observers must be take into consideration in order that every observer have a flawless view into the device protected against extraneous light.